Industries across a wide spectrum utilize large diameter pipes (e.g., 32 inch to 240 inch) in their daily operations. For example, municipalities may utilize large diameter pipes for storm drainage and water management, generally. The oil and gas industry, as well as the utility and power generation industry, utilize such pipes for the transportation of oil and gas. While the uses for large diameter pipes are numerous and varied, all industries using large diameter pipes face the same challenges: finite pipe lifetimes, high repair costs, major service interruptions, major infrastructure impact, personnel safety, and repair efficiency and effectiveness.
As an example of the high costs facing municipalities, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the current repair and upgrade cost of municipal water systems across the country is estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars. The majority of large diameter pipes in this market include pre-cast concrete pipes and steel pipes that are outdated and in need of immediate repair. As an example from the oil and gas industry, there are over 250 pipeline companies in the United States that operate hundreds of thousands of miles of oil pipelines and millions of miles of gas pipelines. Service interruptions on this scale are massive and, due to the length of the pipelines, such interruptions involve a widespread impact on direct and indirect industries.
Conventional repair methods of large diameter pipe include digging up broken or damaged sections of pipe and replacing each section, or installing a smaller diameter pipe within the large diameter pipe (i.e., sliplining). While these methods may fix the immediate problem of a damaged pipe, these methods do not alleviate the overarching challenges mentioned above. Another, rather undesirable, repair method is to utilize manned entry into the pipeline for manual repair and/or maintenance to the internal side of the pipe. This type of repair method leads to a host of problems, including subjecting humans to the noxious conditions inside of these confined spaces.
To alleviate some of the challenges listed above, industries are attempting to “repair before replace” by utilizing remote technologies to reduce or eliminate manned entry into the pipes. There is, however, a need for advancement in remote technologies to meet the varying demands of industries that utilize large diameter pipes.
With these thoughts in mind, among others, aspects of the modular robot assembly disclosed herein were conceived.